Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Thursday took the first major steps to begin sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia.
The Energy Department said it authorized seven exports of unclassified civil nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia under nuclear technology transfer rules meant only for unclassified technology transfers.
The specifics of these authorizations are not being made public because they may contain proprietary business information from the companies exporting the technology, the Energy Department said.
Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said that no uranium enrichment or reprocessing technology has been authorized for export to Saudi Arabia, after lawmakers began criticizing Perry’s authorizations.
Secretary Perry tweeted a clarification after Democratic lawmakers demanded that the authorizations be made known to Congress.
.@SenWarren, no confusion here, we fully understand and comply with the law at @ENERGY. Here are the facts: https://t.co/TyOMzl7wh5
— Rick Perry (@SecretaryPerry) March 28, 2019
Perry replied to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., saying “no confusion here, we fully understand and comply with the law,” retweeting a statement issued by Hynes.
Warren had scolded Perry at a Senate Armed Services hearing earlier on Thursday and later tweeted that Perry “seemed confused by that law — so I helped him understand it.”
The statement from Hynes clarifies the difference between agreements that require congressional approval before transferring uranium and nuclear processing material and approvals that do not require a sign-off.
Democrats criticized the administration for making the authorizations without congressional oversight, saying the administration is using a loophole to get around oversight.
Lawmakers have been especially critical of the administration’s effort in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Instanbul last year. Khashoggi had been murdered allegedly at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Both Republicans and Democrats have called on the administration not to move forward with any nuclear deal with Salman or the kingdom in the wake of the murder.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said he would soon be introducing legislation to mandate that all the relevant authorizations are sent to Congress.
“We must ensure that Saudi Arabia never ends up with the American technology or materials to make a nuclear bomb,” Markey said.
The Trump administration is using the specific authorizations “so as to avoid congressional oversight,” said Giselle Barry, spokeswoman for Markey. “Twitter or not, that is clear. Sen. Markey will be introducing legislation to close that loophole.”
Markey joined with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., last month in introducing legislation that increases congressional oversight in the development of agreements in response to Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions in the wake of the Khashoggi murder.
Markey has also tried to get information on the status of negotiations between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia on a nuclear power exchange, but to no avail, said aides.
